Artificial lift techniques are used to increase flow rate of oil out of a production well. One commercially available type of artificial lift is a gas lift. With a gas lift, compressed gas is injected into a well to increase the flow rate of produced fluid by decreasing head losses associated with weight of the column of fluids being produced. In particular, the injected gas reduces pressure on the bottom of the well by decreasing the bulk density of the fluid in the well. The decreased density allows the fluid to flow more easily out of the well. Gas lifts, however, do not work in all situations. For example, gas lifts do not work well with a reserve of high viscosity oil (heavy oil). Typically, thermal methods are used to recover heavy oil from a reservoir. In a typical thermal method, steam generated at the surface of the earth is pumped down a drive side well into a reservoir. As a result of the heat exchange between the steam pumped into the well and downhole fluids, the viscosity of the oil is reduced by an order of magnitude that allows it to be pumped out of a separate producing bore. A gas lift would not be used with a thermal system because the relatively cool temperature of the gas would counter the benefits of the heat exchange between the steam and the heavy oil therein, increasing the viscosity of the oil and negating the desired effect of the thermal system. The delivery of steam or other stimulation typically requires a major intervention or workover. During a workover, the completion is reconfigured to produce oil instead of injecting steam or vice versa reducing the time and, in turn, an amount of oil produced.
For the reasons stated above and for other reasons stated below, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for an effective and efficient apparatus for delivering downhole steam or another supply of stimulation and/or fluid without a major intervention or workover.